Reading University Mountaineering Club - RUMC

The committee is made up of 9 members who are elected by you, the club members, annually at the club AGM near the end of the spring term - Feb/March for you non-uni people! The job of the committee as a whole is to run the club making sure that trips and events are successful and run smoothly. Quite a bit of time and effort is needed to make sure that everything the club does is done well and that everyone has loads of fun! So please be kind to your committee! To see who is on the current committee now and who has been on it in the past, look here.

A little about each individual role -
 
President - Overall responsibility for the safe and enthusiastic running of the club. Organising and chairing committee meetings, taking an active role in welcoming new members to the club, representing the club at Sports Federation meetings at the union, being the main contact point for the club for the union and other clubs to get in touch, communicating effectively with committee members to ensure jobs get done and to help out when needed.

Treasurer - Responsible for everything to do with money. Collecting in money for trips and events and paying it into the union. Keeping a close eye on the account reports in the union to make sure we haven't been charged for buying anything silly like netballs! and to keep track of all money that is going in and out. To collect receipts from people who have paid for fuel etc and to fill out cheque requisition forms and petty cash claims to reimburse people. Treasurer is also responsible for the budgeting for the year, making sure we don't run out of money! This role needs to be filled by an organised and trustworthy person.

Secretary - This job involves booking huts/campsites for trips, organising the clubs paperwork, like membership forms and making sure that the paperwork for the union gets done every year. Take minutes of meetings and chase people who haven't done what they said they would, and generally help to get people organised!

Vice President - The main role of VP is to support the President and ensure communication within the committee. Every year the responsibilities are varied depending on the organisation of the club and the background of the person, taking on jobs when needed.

Climbing Officer - The climbing officer's main weekly task is to organise the Monday and Thursday climbing sessions as well as climbing day trips, and what to do on weekends away. The climbing officer also looks after the club climbing kit which is nothing serious as a qualified person has to check it annually for safety – you just have to keep track of who has what, and general common sense caretaking.

Walking Officer - The primary role of the walking officer is to come to a decision for walking and scrambling routes on weekend trips along with advice and help from other experienced members in the club. They are also in charge of planning smaller scale walking events such as a Sunday walk around the Reading area or day trips further afield. The final duties of the walking officer is to be keeper of the maps, guides, walking and scrambling gear, ensuring that their locations are known and that anything in poor condition is repaired or replaced.

Social Secretary - To organise and promote social events each term. Typical events in the past have been: themed pub crawls, formal meals, games in Palmer park, Treasurer Hunt. Needs imagination and good organisational skills. Involved liasisng with nightclubs and restaurants to get good deals.

PR Officer - Responsible for promoting the club in various ways including ensuring that the content on the website is up to date, updating other pages like the facebook page, updating the email list and membership list, organising hoodies and t-shirts etc and coming up with any other ideas that will promote the club and improve communications of events.

Non-Exec - The duties for this position are fairly undefined and flexible. Basically the role is to generally support the committee, turning your hand to whatever is needed to be done or whatever you are good at or interested in. This may mean booking buses if you are on campus, helping out buying food for trips, assisting in planning and running day trips, finding out information etc. This is an ideal position for anyone from a complete novice to seasoned mountaineers – you do whatever you can and make the job whatever you want it to be!

Being a committee member does require a certain amount of committment to the club but it's also great fun. Anyone can run for a position, you don't have to be an expert climber or anything like that, just enthusiastic and motivated to help things running smoothly. If you would like to run for committee at the next AGM then you should! Speak to the current committee about what they do and get thinking about what you would like to do.